Happy New Year!

Choosing the Best Seeds and Plants for Your Garden by Joyce D’Agostino

For gardeners, this time of year brings exciting arrivals to your mailbox – the new seed and plant catalogs. Sometimes the selections are so tempting that you might want to break your budget to buy as many of the wonderful varieties as possible.

Before you begin placing your orders or making the visits to your garden centers, an important rule is choosing the “right plant for the right place” which will bring more enjoyment and success. Even if you are an experienced gardener in our climate, there may be some plants that you want to try and not certain if they are appropriate for your region.

Help! I Got An Orchid for Christmas!

Photo courtesy urbangardensweb.com

Help! I got an orchid for Christmas! If that sounds like you, relax. That beautiful orchid is relatively easy to care for if you attend to its light, humidity and watering needs. Planttalk Colorado provides in-depth information on four orchids commonly grown indoors in Colorado. Another great resource is the Denver Orchid Society.

Merry Christmas!

Holiday Plant Lore: Mistletoe

Photo courtesy Botanical Accuracy

Where did the ritual of kissing under the mistletoe at Christmas time come from and what's so special about it? 

Before there were any Christmas trees, the custom to kiss beneath it most likely originated in pre-Christian Europe where it was believed that mistletoe possessed life bestowing properties and was associated with fertility. Along this line of thinking, mistletoe was also used as an aphrodisiac and, if that were not enough, it was used as an antidote to poison and to witchcraft as well. Hence, the custom of hanging mistletoe over a doorway to ward off evil spirits from crossing your threshold.

Celebrate the Winter Solstice

Photo BlueDotMusic

It feels like the days just can’t get any shorter, and it’s true. Today we celebrate the Winter Solstice, the shortest day of the year. 

December Solstice (Winter Solstice) arrives at 3:22pm in Denver, today December 21, marking the moment that the sun shines at its most southern point (in case you are counting, the sun is about 91.473 million miles from earth today).  This day is 5 hours, 38 minutes shorter than on June Solstice. In most locations north of Equator, the shortest day of the year is around this date. To the delight of many of us, this means that the days will start getting longer, however incrementally.

The Winter Solstice is celebrated in many cultures around the world. It is a major pagan festival with rituals of rebirth having been celebrated for thousands of years. In the northern latitudes, midwinter's day has been an important time for celebration throughout the ages. Nova Scotians celebrate the Winter Solstice as Children's Day to honor their children and to bring warmth, light and cheerfulness into the dark time of the year. In pagan Scandinavia the winter festival was the yule (or juul). Great yule logs were burned, and people drank mead around the bonfires listening to minstrel-poets singing ancient legends. It was believed that the yule log had the magical effect of helping the sun to shine more brightly.

Holiday Plant Lore: Christmas Tree

Photo courtesy today.com

Germany is credited with starting the Christmas tree tradition as we now know it in the 16th century when devout Christians brought decorated trees into their homes. Some built Christmas pyramids of wood and decorated them with evergreens and candles if wood was scarce. It is a widely held belief that Martin Luther, the 16th-century Protestant reformer, first added lighted candles to a tree. Walking toward his home one winter evening, composing a sermon, he was awed by the brilliance of stars twinkling amidst evergreens. To recapture the scene for his family, he erected a tree in the main room and wired its branches with lighted candles.

Holiday Plant Lore: Holly

Holly with berries, photo courtesy gardenknowhow.com

Christmas brings with it many traditions, and it may be the one time many of us still practice a few old customs from folklore from around the world.

Though holly doubtless was, and still is, brought into the house for its shiny green leaves and berries, which reflect the light and add colour to the dark days of Yule, it has another significance as well. Christian symbolism connected the prickly leaves with Jesus' crown of thorns and the berries with the drops of blood shed for humanity's salvation, as is related, for example, in the Christmas carol, 'The Holly and the Ivy'. Yet even here the reference to these two plants refers to a pre-Christian celebration, where a boy would be dressed in a suit of holly leaves and a girl similarly in ivy, to parade around the village, bringing Nature through the darkest part of the year to re-emerge for another year's fertility.

Holiday Plant Lore: Wreaths by Carol King

Photo by Echter's Garden Center

Hanging a circular wreath of evergreens during mid winter is a tradition that goes back to ancient Greece and Rome.

In Roman times wreaths were hung on doors as a sign of victory and rich Roman women wore them as headdresses at special occasions. Roman emperors wore Laurel Wreaths. 

In Ancient Greece, wreaths were used at funerals to represent the circle of eternal life. They were also given to the winners of events in the original Olympic Games in Greece.

In early Christendom,  evergreen wreaths were laid at the burial place of early Christian virgin martyrs in Europe, the evergreen representing the victory of the eternal spirit over death.

Modern Christmas wreaths transcended from Celtic Kissing Boughs and the German and Eastern European custom of Advent Wreaths.

The word 'wreath' comes from the Old English word 'writhen' which means to writhe or twist. The circular ring shape of the wreath signifies eternity, and the evergreens represent growth and the everlasting. As the wreath is made of plants that remain green throughout the winter, it represents life in the dead of winter.

Choosing a Fresh Christmas Tree by Carol King

Photo CSU Extension

Are you thinking of getting a fresh Christmas tree this year? It seems that there are tree lots on every street corner and the choices can be overwhelming. Here are a few simple steps that will ensure you get the freshest tree and keep it that way.

At the tree lot:

• Check that the needles bend rather than break with gentle pressure; 
• Shake it carefully to look for needle loss; 
• Check the cut end: it should be sticky with sap. 

If these conditions exist, buy the tree and take it home.

At home:

• Make a new cut at the end of the trunk about an inch above the old one.
• Keep the cut end standing in water, whether you decorate the tree immediately or not. This allows a fresh route for water to travel into the trunk. 
• Check the tree's water level frequently, and refill as necessary. Fresh evergreen trees can take up an amazing amount of water. You may have to fill the reservoir several times a day. Don’t let the water level drop below the trunk, as a seal will formant prevent the tree from absorbing water.
• Keep your tree away from heat sources such as a heating duct or television set. A fresh tree that receives good care should remain in safe condition indoors for ten days to two weeks.

You can also cut your Christmas tree at several U. S. Forest Service locations near the Front Range, provided you have a permit.  The USDA Forest Service web site , (Rocky Mountain Region Regional Christmas Tree Program) has information on where and when to get a permit, cutting dates and times, tips on caring for your tree including a recipe for a fireproofing mixture, and other details. There are also Christmas tree farms along the Front Range that allow you to “cut your own.” 

http://www.pickyourownchristmastree.org/COxmasdenver.php is a good web site.

Enjoy that fresh tree! 

It's Frost Season! But What Kind of Frost is That?

Autumn frost, photo by Donna Duffy

It’s the time of year when frost occurs almost daily. But what kind of frost is it? Just a few degrees or a slight change to the environment can separate air frost from ground frost, or hoar frost from glaze or rime. Following is a detailed look at what each term means, courtesy of The Weather Channel.

Hoar frost, photo by Donna Duffy

Hoar frost

Consisting of tiny ice crystals, hoar frost is formed through the same process as dew - but only when surface temperatures are below freezing point. 

Hoar frost follows a feather-like appearance, forming when the surface temperature reaches 0C before the dew begins to manifest on it.  Often more rounded frost particles appear, called 'white' frost, which is when the dew forms first and then freezes as a result. However, if there is any fog present, this usually prevents the formation of hoar frost since it lessens the potential for the cooling of the Earth's surface.

Air frost

Air frost happens when the temperature of the air plunges to or below the freezing point of water. The depth of air above the ground also must have increased to at least three feet above the ground. The combination then creates a layer of cold air hovering just above the ground that should hit 32F or below, and gradually becomes thicker and thicker as more heat energy fades away and the temperature continues to fall.

Grass frost

A grass frost is an un-official strain of ground frost. A grass frost takes place when natural surfaces, such as grass, freeze, while other surfaces such as tarmac and concrete pavements don’t. The reason why such man-made surfaces don't come into contact with this frost is due to their better ability to hold onto warmth.

Glaze or rime

Frost is often confused with rime or glaze. Rime is a rough white ice deposit which forms on vertical surfaces exposed to the wind. It is formed by supercooled water droplets of fog freezing on contact with a surface it drifts past. Glaze can only form when supercooled rain or drizzle comes into contact with the ground, or non-supercooled liquid may produce glaze if the ground is well below 32F. Glaze is a clear ice deposit that can be mistaken for a wet surface and can be highly dangerous. On the roads, we often refer to glaze as “black ice”.

Glaze, also called black ice, photo courtesy science.howstuffworks

Ground frost

Ground frost relates to ice formed on the ground, or on objects and trees, where the surface consists of a temperature below freezing point. On those occasions when the ground cools faster than the air, ground frost can occur without an air frost.

So there you have it! Everything you always wanted to know about frost!\

Winter Care for Houseplants

Photo courtesy Beth Bonnicksen, Boulder County CMG

Winter weather adversely affects growing conditions for houseplants. Proper care during the winter months can help insure the health of houseplants. Following are tips from University of Nebraska Extension in Lancaster County, Mary Jane Frogge.

Most houseplants grow well with daytime temperatures of 65 to 75 degrees F and night temperatures of 60 to 65 degrees F. Temperatures below 50 degrees F or rapid temperature fluctuations may damage some plants. Keep houseplants away from cold drafts, radiators, and hot air vents. Also make sure houseplant foliage doesn't touch cold windows.

Choosing and Caring for Your Poinsettia By Olivia Tracy

Poinsettia Plants (Euphorbia pulcherrima) Photo courtesy of Olivia Tracy

In the first weeks of December, many people buy poinsettia plants (Euphorbia pulcherrima) to decorate their homes for the holiday season. While the vibrant red and pink leaves of the poinsettia are often referred to as “flowers,” they are actually called bracts; the true poinsettia flower sits at the center of those bracts. 

Here are a few tips for selecting healthy poinsettia plants and caring for them in your home. 

• Choose plants with dark green leaves; if the cultivar has lighter or mottled bracts, then the foliage may be lighter as well. Avoid plants with pale green and yellow leaves; this often indicates that the plant has been given too little or too much water. 

• If it’s cold outside (around or below 35 degrees Farenheit), be sure your poinsettia is carefully wrapped before you transport it. Once it’s in your home, remove the plastic sleeve immediately; leaving the plant in the sleeve can damage the bracts. 

• Be sure your poinsettias receive indirect sunlight for at least six hours a day; avoid direct sunlight, which can fade the bracts, and protect your poinsettia from extreme temperatures by not placing it near drafts or heating vents. 

• Water the poinsettia whenever the top of the soil feels dry to the touch. When watering, be sure to either remove foil wrapping or cut a hole in the bottom of the wrapping so that water can drain out of the pot; too much water can suffocate the root system.

For more information about poinsettias, including how to fertilize your plant after the holidays and help your poinsettia re-flower next year, please see the CSU Fact Sheet 7.412, “Poinsettias” http://extension.colostate.edu/topic-areas/yard-garden/poinsettias-7-412/